"We have lost the battle, but not the war"- Shreyas Iyer reacts after PBKS' loss to RCB in IPL 2025 Qualifier 1 match

Punjab Kings (PBKS) captain Shreyas Iyer was left disappointed after his side was hammered by eight wickets by Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) in IPL 2025 Qualifier 1 match on Thursday, May 29. The match took place in Mullanpur in New Chandigarh.

After the loss on Thursday, Iyer said that PBKS had lost the battle but not the war.

"We got to work on our batting especially on this wicket. In all the games we have played here there has been some variable bounce. We can't give such reasons because we are professionals at the end of the day and we have to bat according to the situation. We have lost the battle, but not the war," Iyer said at the post-match presentation (via Cricbuzz).

Put into bat by RCB captain Rajat Patidar, PBKS never found any momentum in their innings. The RCB bowlers were on the money from ball one and the fielders caught everything that came their way to bowl PBKS out for 101 in 14.1 overs.

Bowlers and Phil Salt help RCB qualify for fourth final, first since 2016

An excellent bowling effort, led by the returning Josh Hazlewood, and an unbeaten 56 off 27 balls from Phil Salt helped RCB hammer PBKS by eight wickets on Thursday. With the win, RCB have progressed to their fourth IPL final and their first since 2016.

Chasing 102 runs for victory, the opening duo of Salt and Virat Kohli put on 30 runs before the latter fell to Kyle Jamieson. Salt carried on and built partnerships with Mayank Agarwal (19 off 13) and Rajat Patidar (15* off 8), finishing the chase in just 10 overs.

PBKS will face the winner of the eliminator clash between Mumbai Indians and Gujarat Titans in the second qualifier at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad on Sunday, June 1.

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